A recent graduate from Harvard College with a degree in Environmental Science and Public Policy, I am looking to use my knowledge of and passion for energy and sustainability to write about innovators in those fields. Having spent the last four years covering Cambridge for The Harvard Crimson, I have a soft spot for Boston-area startups. I hail from suburban western Massachusetts but have a love for metropolitan life. I previously wrote for Money, The New London Day, and The Hartford Courant.

Renewing Industry With Ancient Tech: A Return To Hydropower

You don’t have to invest millions in engineering the most optimal solar panel or innovative wind turbine to get ahead in the renewable energy sector. Instead, one Beverly, Mass.-based company has invested time and effort to understand the permitting process behind an older power source and has applied an ancient technology. New England Hydropower seeks to repower long-dormant mill dams to provide clean, reliable energy within states.

“People have to repair dams. What if they could find a source of renewable energy while at the same time meeting the requirements in dam repair?” said CEO and co-founder Michael Kerr.

Even at a small scale, hydropower is cost competitive to re-enter the area’s energy portfolio as states adhere to renewable energy goals and grants. The technology is available, but the development process is burdensome. Each project requires a rigorous federal permitting and environmental impact studies that lower the incentives to build when the power supply is so small.

“Certainly some developers have complained that some permitting requirements and onerous. We haven’t seen a compelling case for making it easier,” said Sue Reid of the Conservation Law Foundation.

A rendering of a potential small-scale hydropower system on an eastern Connecticut dam site. (Photo credit: New England Hydropower)

A native of England and now an American citizen, Kerr formerly worked for Shell Oil in London, United Technologies, and several startups before founding New England Hydropower in 2012. He uncovered the potential for implementing small-scale hydropower sites after his co-founder needed to repair a dam at his home in western Massachusetts. Kerr was familiar with the popularity of the hydropower technologies in the UK, France, and Austria and based his business on a product that has been used overseas.

The technology is nothing new. In fact, New England Hydropower uses an ancient system called the Archimedes’ screw, named after the third-century B.C. Greek engineer. Descending water turns the screw with an added gearbox that then drives a generator, thereby providing a slow-moving, run-of-the-river device that is easy to maintain and fish-friendly. This small-scale system has been installed throughout Europe, such as by Potential Energy Projects in the UK and Spaans Babcock of Holland, both of which have partnered with New England Hydropower.

Archimedes’ screw systems have already been implemented throughout the UK, as pictured, and Europe. New England Hydropower is now bringing this ancient technology to the Northeast. (Photo credit: Chris Conover)

With the trusted system, Kerr knew the next, and more challenging, step was to navigate and identify the market. The company has spent the past two years studying thousands of dams in New England. Thankfully, the team did not have to drive to all 15,000 dams to analyze each of their potential but instead utilized public data — a strategy that brought them to the White House in May for the 2014 Energy Datapalooza.

From national data by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and supplementing with regional data, Kerr’s team lowered the vetting to 800 sites. So far, New England Hydropower has identified 500 qualified sites.

Now, the development process is underway as the company begins to woo potential customers with the Archimedes screw system and coordinates construction to dams’ specific needs. After gaining permission from the municipality or private-dam owners, removal and development requires federal permitting and an environmental assessment. The company is currently at various stages of that process in several areas in the region. Chris Conover of New England Hydropower said that they hope to launch the first project in 2015.

While large-scale hydropower has been a controversial topic in New England — most recently in a debate on whether to buy power from Canada — small-scale versions have the benefit of regional energy security and local jobs. The system has already gained the attention of towns in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

“It’s an attractive dynamic today in terms of allowing local users control over power, whether it’s an industrial application or residential,” said Alicia Barton, CEO of Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

Hydropower has become cost competitive, not far off from wind and solar. Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company predicts that a proposed 300 kW site in New England would cost about $0.16 per kWh. The pricing is variable on a per dam basis, and Conover said that New England Hydropower has planned for dams between 10 to 500 kW. Other systems with larger reservoirs and higher capacities are able to sell at cheaper prices. The average cost of hydroelectric units across the country is $0.0845 per kWh as reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Notably in the financing debate, hydropower is more reliable than other renewable technologies. Intermittence comes seasonally. As part of their research, New England Hydropower has been able to predict this reliability from long-range data, and therefore, vet cost effective sites.

Kerr said that he believed the success of his company has come from the focused yet enterprising nature of the project. The technology may not be American-invented and made, but its implementation and development can be catered and controlled. By meshing a deep understanding of the politics and permitting in New England with partnered manufacturers in Europe, the company has been able to extend its reach.

“We really kept it focused and from that we had the ability to attract some bright young people to move us forward,” Kerr said.

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